Vancouver, CANADA — Should I admit that I ended up booking a reservation at Pidgin solely because of one dish that I spotted on the menu?

That dish is pictured above in all its majesty: foie gras rice bowl with unagi glaze.

And I’m here to report that it was epic.

You see, my husband and I, unfortunately live in a state in the United States that has for years has banned restaurants from serving and selling foie gras. So, when we were planning a trip to the Great White North, the first thing my husband uttered was “I’m eating some foie gras!” And did he ever. Not just here, but at our hotel restaurant, the Alouette Bistro, where he chowed down on a bountiful burger with a small lobe of seared fatty duck liver on the side.

Foie gras is not the only thing to celebrate about Pidgin, which, after all, is Michelin Guide-recommended.

There’s so much more to relish at Chef Wesley Young’s restaurant, where the food is bold and at times irreverent.

The restaurant is on the edge of historic Gastown, which unfortunately, like so many big city-neighborhoods after the pandemic, has turned somewhat seedy and sketchy with homeless and drug users about. But just keep your wits when walking from the metro stop, and you should be fine, especially since a police cruiser and security on foot can be seen patrolling the area.

With an iron gate and graphite-colored paint, the entrance to the restaurant is rather dark and foreboding. But once inside, it’s brighter and cozier with a warm, welcoming vibe.

Pidgin serves both a tasting menu and a la carte menu. We chose the latter, which allowed us to sample quite a few dishes.

As you look over the menu, an amuse arrives: a warming cup of thick, creamy potato and burdock soup that’s earthy, nutty and wonderfully restorative.

Enjoy a Misturin cocktail ($16), a blend of oaked shochu, Noilly Prat Ambre vermouth, oloroso sherry, and Campari. It’s very much like a negroni, but made with sweet, nutty, Japanese shochu instead of gin.

From the snacks section, there are daily pickles ($5), a selection of thin asparagus spears, burdock root, and shaved lotus root with the pleasing, salty-sour taste of umemoshi. They’re all nicely crunchy and not aggressively tart or salty, so that the taste of each vegetable is maintained.

Atsuage or deep-fried tofu squares are so crispy on the exterior and custardy within. Dip them in the accompanying chile sauce, and it’s a worthy of a snack attack.

Chu-toro ($25) is chopped tuna belly seasoned with fermented sansho pepper, pickled mustard seed, shiso, soy sauce, sake, vinegar, sugar, and diced sweet onions. Garnished with rice crackers and a Japanese hot mustard aioli, it eats like the best poke bowl you’ve ever had, with incredibly succulent tuna emboldened with fiery, briny, and minty goodness.

The chicken wings ($17), glazed with gochujang, will get your lips and tongue tingling. They’re very moist and crispy, and garnished with thin slices of pickled daikon.

Veal sweetbread nuggets ($21) get fried in brown butter and served with Argentinian prawns that are sweet and succulent. Sauteed artichokes and a fennel veloute add French pizazz.

The herb-crusted braised Fraser Valley lamb neck ($28) sounds like it may be messy to eat, but this is one of the most elegant presentations with the tender meat taken off the bone, formed into a roulade, then breaded and fried. It’s juicy, with a delectable rim of fat all around. Garnishes of anchovy mashed potatoes, lightly pickled bok choy, and Brussels sprouts slaw complete the dish.

Then, the dish we had been waiting for — the foie gras rice bowl ($37) with two generous sized pieces of seared duck liver glazed with that thick, sweet soy unagi sauce and garnished with starchy chestnuts and dashi-simmered daikon that soak up all the flavors.

It’s as decadent as it sounds. So much so that I’m not sure one person could finish it by themselves. But I was soon set straight by the server, who said that not only have people had no trouble devouring it, but that one woman finished two “quad bowls.” Yes, that’s two rice bowls, each with four pieces of seared foie gras. Now, that’s commitment.

There are only two dessert choices, and I went with the more daring one: Szechuan pepper beignets ($10). The three puffy round beignets come to the table hot and smelling of the peppercorns. In fact, you have to really love these numbing peppercorns because there are a lot of them, ground and mixed with sugar that coat the entire beignet. It is an aggressive taste — sweet, sugary, yet caustic, leaving your lips and palate thoroughly prickly feeling. The miso-caramel sauce — a little sweet, a little savory — calmed the situation down just a tad. My husband wasn’t a fan of the beignets. But I thought them fun, daring, and certainly memorable.

More: Michelin-Acclaimed Vancouver Eats, Part I: Published on Main